


all of its leaves a palm

by MiniNephthys



Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death, Request Meme, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 09:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8051452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: The tragedy of Darcover Town.





	all of its leaves a palm

They cut the tree down.

The tree on Dead Tree Hill has been dead for a long, long time, so long that no one in Darcover Town recalls what they called that place while the tree yet bore leaves. It may have even been a fruit tree, at some point. For a funeral town, they don’t keep very good records.

As trees go, it’s not impressively large, but its placement as the only tree on top of the hill lends it a sort of austere quality. Plenty of people from as far away as Seaside ask to be buried there, if they don’t choose to be cremated in Funerale instead.

It’s not exactly their pride and joy - that would be silly, to think of a dead tree that way - but it is something of a trademark, a recognizable symbol of the entire town. So it is afforded a certain respect, among the townspeople.

Father Dogma says there was some kind of monster living within the tree, and so despite the tree’s history and significance to the town, there is nothing to do but cut it down so it never troubles them again. Even if the monster is gone now, defeated, they can’t be too careful.

The moment the saw touches the tree’s bark, red stains it. The man cutting the tree down hesitates for just a moment, then goes on with the process as planned. The notches bleed, the felling cut bleeds more. He cuts branches off for firewood and by the time he’s done, red stains his saw so badly that no one is sure if he’ll ever get it clean again.

That’s fine, though. The path where the tree fell has splotches of red here and there, but the important part is that the tree is gone and no more harm will come to their town because of it.

The same day, a man pulls overgrown vines and flowers down from the insides of their houses, and Russell helps to get rid of the ones outside. Everyone else pretends not to hear the screaming.

The vines are gone. The tree has been cut down, and still allows passage to Funerale if you know where to look for it. Everything is fine now, and everyone goes to bed that night feeling at peace. Parents tuck their children in, wishing them beddy-bye, and then retire themselves.

They wake up choking. There’s no fire, but smoke fills the air and the vines are growing back thick and fast, in more numbers than when they were pulled down, with enough force and speed to pierce through anyone unfortunate enough to be near where they’re growing. Everything smells of lilies and smoke. No one can breathe. No one can do anything.

Did they bring down a curse upon themselves by cutting down that dead tree? Should they have left it alone? Would that have spared them this fate, crawling and suffocating and helpless?

No one can know now, and now it doesn’t matter.


End file.
